Thousands sign up for cheaper bills

By Martin Neville

Saturday, March 16, 2013

 

Thousands sign up for cheaper bills

Promoting the Big Wight Switch are, front, Philippa Daley, with, back, Jacky de Bruyne, left, and Jayne Wetherall. Picture by Laura Holme.

TIME is running out to register for the Big Wight Switch, a project which aims to save people money on their energy bills.

Community Action Isle of Wight is leading the scheme to help households reduce their gas and electricity bills by negotiating cheaper tariffs on their behalf.

With one week to go until the March 22 deadline, more than 4,475 households have registered.

Philippa Daley, rural services officer, said: "At times there have been up to five members of our team answering calls to people registering with the Big Wight Switch.

"The more potential customers we can offer to energy companies, the more power we have to negotiate."

It is hoped that, by speaking as a single, more powerful unit, thousands of Islanders could slash their energy bills by hundreds of pounds a year.

Similar collectives in other parts of the country have seen average annual savings of £202 per household, with some homes slashing as much as £2,253 from their bills.

Jayne Wetherall, who recently joined the team, said: "I have really enjoyed the community spirit which has been generated through this project and have been surprised by the variety of calls we have received.

"In some cases, we have been able to signpost people to further support offered through organisations such as The Footprint Trust."

Registering is free with no obligation to switch providers.

People can find out more and register at www.bigwightswitch.co.uk or by calling 01983 539371.

Reporter: martinn@iwcpmail.co.uk

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by geoffrey clynch

18th March 2013, at 12:01:25

If the council is in any way involved in this then you know it is a scam

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by Don Prescott

17th March 2013, at 14:43:42

The sad thing is that those three seem to believe that the polystyrene "character" they have created, is somehow real and ask people to email in if they spot Colin? Switch on their travels.

Don't forget that there is no such thing as a free lunch and someone somewhere will be paying for this, just like Raybans "Community Energy" wheeze.

I am surprised that one of the local radio stations have not had "Colin" in the studio for a phone in!

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by Mrs James

17th March 2013, at 12:16:43

Well I will NOT be signing up for it as Im more than happy with my current supplier and happy to tell you all anout it if you want to contact me...
I have Gas, Electric, Phone, Broadband, Mobile, & Cashback Card which means my total monthly bill is now less than it used to cost me for just Electric before I changed 2yrs ago now...
Anyone can have it and I gain even more discounts if people give my name as recommending them ...
Win Win for me :)

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by Mike Crowe

16th March 2013, at 17:35:27

Come to think of it, no, not too wise, just the usual lethargy.

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by Mike Crowe

16th March 2013, at 17:26:42

""more than 4,475 households""

4,476? Isle of Wight lethargy or just a little too wise?

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by Don Prescott

16th March 2013, at 15:37:33

sted.

See Rayban just got back from IO Man where he tweeted "Green Leader ?@ecoislandhub
Most impressive thing of ALL was public support 4 what we r trying to do more than 100 attended talk in the evening "

ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE attended out of a population of 87,000.
Yeah Dave. You sure are winning the public over!

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by Don Prescott

16th March 2013, at 15:18:08

Just WHAT is it with this paper?

Time after time they publish figures which have NO BASIS IN FACT, but because they relate to the CP bias on "green" ishoos, they nevertheless publish them as fact.

I have remarked on this before, but A.M. does absolutely nothing to correct these discrepancies.

Well, for one last time, NO HOMES could slash "as much as £2,253 from their bills".
You know why Alan?

Because the AVERAGE energy bill for homes in the UK is as follows:
Gas = £811
Electricity = £531

Added together comes to £1342.

SO, HOW do some homes slash as much as £2253 from their bills when the average bill is only £1342?

Try publishing some FACTS regarding this green garbage for a change and stop making stuff up!

The FACTS can be accessed at : http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Media/FactSheets/Documents1/household-bills.pdf

as published 16 January 2013.

60,000 households in IOW, so just 7.5% of householders are intere

Any views or opinions presented in the comments above are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the Isle of Wight County Press.

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